


don't take me home

by TheLadyTeddy



Series: no laughter after heaven closes [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 23:31:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13328724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLadyTeddy/pseuds/TheLadyTeddy
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki has been alone for as long as he could remember, even still time changes the course of his life. Human attachment is a far off thought, but not impossible. At least that's what he's learning.





	don't take me home

**Author's Note:**

> Did I fuck with the Naruto timeline? Yes, but eventually it'll make sense, just go with it.

A child of lesser will would have already passed out or turned back to home, a safe bed and a warm meal.

A child of lesser will would have begun to cry and exclaim that it was too difficult a task.

This was not a child of lesser will, rather one born from a line of shinobi who in her demure opinion had too much determination and fire in their breasts.

She watched as he picked himself up from the snow, his legs covered in frost and teeth chattering and not for the first time did she think that the Sandaime Hokage was wrong in believing the young Uzumaki could fend for himself. She watched as the blonde put his hands together to form a seal and once again yell out to a frosting woods, silent as a grave and covered in snow. The look of focus on his face was similar to Minato-sempai, as well as his coloring, but that fire, that loud mischievousness was all Kushina-nee and none of Minato's quiet wisdom.

It wasn’t the first time she watched him, not the first she scooped him up from the ground and deposited him somewhere safer, warmer and far away from the hateful eyes of the village. He lived in fear and in loneliness, she studied him carefully, how he acted out among the villagers, causing mischief and pranks and it warmed her heart to see his devious thinking. She knew what it was like to not be trusted by the narrow-minded civilians, or even some shinobi. When Nawaki-sensei died there were whispers that she betrayed her sensei to Orochimaru, for power and prestige, they pointed at her skill with snake summonings and assassination techniques, they pointed to her bloodthirst, her recent recruitment to Torture and Interrogation. She was shunned by all except a few who knew how deeply she loved her sensei, and how much she learned to hate Orochimaru. To this day, there was unease, there were glares, there were questions about her loyalty. It wasn't unlike how they treat the boy. How they treated Naruto.

As a monster.

“Bunshin no Jutsu!”

A floppy bit of gloop. The child swayed on his feet before falling into the snow, exhaustion lining his features and his thin shoulders shaking.

He was a pitiful sight, and her stomach and heart clenched for the boy.

Dressed in nothing but a bright orange t-shirt and black cargo shorts, the weather was freezing and she could see frost on the tips of his spiky hair. His clothes were always bright and old, not fit for a shinobi, let alone the son of a hero like Minato-senpai. Anko noted to herself to bring it up to the Hokage when she visited him next, to either take the boy shopping for winter clothes or at least allow larger allowance to buy something more suitable. He looked up at her, bright blue eyes and fox whiskers on his round face and she flinched at how much he looked like his parents, and how much fire she could read in his eyes. Anko steeled herself, burying those past hurts deep into her belly.

“What’re ya doing kid” hands in her overly large trench coat she looked him up and down. The boy flinched just the slightest but his grin was still wide, his eyes still just as determined as before.

“Practicing my bunshin for the Academy exam ya know. Gotta get it perfect.” he gathered himself to his shaking feet and stretched his arms out as he exclaimed. “Then I’ll become an awesome ninja.”

“You’re a ways off from that.” she raised an eyebrow, it was true, everything he did was wrong, except his transformations, he was a bit unnaturally good at those.

“I need all to do all the Academy Three perfect to pass.” he grinned brightly and spread his arms out, “Then when everyone can see how amazing I am they will have to say my name! They will know how strong I am!”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! Yeah! Either that or a really cool mastered ninjutsu like Sasuke-teme has! I’ll be better than him! Cooler! Then everyone will like me!” his voice rang like a bell, a sharp intoning sound filled with a desperate hope to be seen as himself, by anyone and she felt her jaw click at the look in his eyes. The look of someone who only had one thing in this world, one dream, one ambition, one truth. To be seen. She narrowed her eyes at the ninjutsu part, it was unheard of for genin of this generation to be able to turn out strong ninjutsu, let alone execute one. This generation grew up in a time of peace, there was no rush by the village to push out genin team after genin team, no shortage of shinobi, no widespread child deaths and marching orders. Prodigies were few and far between, and the teachers at the Academy were unused to dealing with children with above average talent and instead lauded them as new comings of Konoha legends. Ten years old her could eat them alive in seconds, all of them. But even still the Academy rules hadn’t changed, hadn’t budged.

A student could pass the exam if they had mastery of 2/3 and a ninjutsu. Clan children often used this method of passing, while civilian students and orphans wandered into Genin teams with only three, basic, rudimentary, banal jutsu. They were killed first, there was a reason civilian students were often paired with other Clan children, bringing them into the fold of shinobi, learning from not only their sensei’s but their teammates.

She was such a child, civilian born and placed in Nawaki-sensei’s genin team along with two others from prominent Konoha ninja and woefully out of balance in strength. They had Katon and Doton jutsu, Clan taijutsu, markings and symbols of where they belonged and all she had was a scrap of rope tied around her neck that her father tied around her wrist before he left to battle and all she got back was a death notice and an apartment too cold. She no more belonged than Naruto did, alone, forgotten until she proved her worth under Nawaki-sensei and he gave her a snake fang, as the most recent in their line of summoning, as taught to him by his sensei.

He gave her a place, a goal, a dream, and a Will.

She looked at him, scrawny, pale, with that Will of Fire Nawaki-sensei followed all the way to the grave when she was still a young Chunin. To never give up, to keep striving. So long ago but still burned in her throat when Tsunade went pale and didn’t speak for weeks before packing up Shizune and Tadashi and going for an extended ‘tour’ of the Elemental Nations. How quiet the village was without Nawaki, Shizune, Tsunade and little Tadashi.

She watched as Naruto swayed again on his feet, arms wrapping around himself, searching for warmth. If her math was correct, then he couldn’t be any older than eight now, still so young and inexperienced. Tadashi would be just about the same age as well, gallivanting the Elemental Nations with that old biddy he called an Aunt. Rubbing her hand through her unpinned hair she made a quick-fire decision.

Stepping forward, she scooped the little boy into her arms and noted how light he was. Unnaturally so, skinny, she could feel his ribs against her hands as she took a brisk pace out of the clearing.

“Ne! Shinobi-san put me down! Stop it! Lemme go!” the panic was reaching into his voice and she nearly halted at the fear that was there.

“It’s too cold out to be training in your clothes,” she wrapped the jacket closer to her body to protect the already freezing boy from the elements, “you need warm food and a bed.”

“I don’t wanna go! I need to train! Lemme go! I don’t know you!”

Anko sighed, the kid was kicking now, and if he was anything like her would resort to biting shortly. Carefully, minding his balled up fists she grabbed his head and pushed it into her shoulder, tucking him against her body. The runt struggled as she jumped into the snowy trees that covered Konoha expansive interior. “My name is Anko Mitarashi, now you know me.” Naruto went still and looked up at her and she sighed, “You can trust me, I won’t hurt you. I just want to get you some food and in a warm bed.”

“Ramen?”

Anko snorted, loudly, oh he was too much like Kushina-nee, “Alright kid, ramen it is, then I’ll be taking you home, and you’ll sleep. No more training in the snow at night alright, that’s a surefire way to die, and you can’t die before becoming an awesome ninja, right?”

“Right!”

***-*-*-*-***

Watching them again, it’s all he had to do today, after all, watch his classmates getting picked up by their parents. Hiashi-sama with his cold gaze, the Inuzuka being all but attacked by the nin-dogs, even the pinkette was receiving a warm greeting from her parents though it was well known that the lone civilian-shinobi had trouble at home. But Naruto, no one was there to pick him up, not now, not ever.

Orphan. Monster. Demon. The single most hated person in Konoha. Dead Last. Worthless. Good for Nothing. Useless. Knucklehead. Brat. Idiot.

The words were thrown at him, from every direction possible, by his classmates, by the shinobi, by their parents, and especially from his teachers and the civilians. He was alone on the swing, watching everyone go home, their shining forehead protectors on their heads and Naruto waited, waited for someone, anyone to show up and smile, just look, just notice him.

But no one ever did and it was growing late in the evening now. Darkness falling and the bars opening. Their parents would probably tell them that this was no time for a child to be wandering about the village, even if it was so close to the Shinobi barracks for those who chose to live among their peers and comrades. But the night was never safe, and neither was a day, Naruto could not be choosy as he padded his way out of the now abandoned schoolyard. How long had he sat there? Hours? Days? Minutes? Weeks? It felt like eons, that he sat there blank as a board and straight as one, staring straight ahead at the symbol that adorned the Shinobi Academy. He shuffled through the streets, the feeling of the glares and stares on his back, being kicked none too lightly in the shin, tripped, whispered about. He was very nearly immune to it all now, the tiny hurts that plagued his hour-long walk home into the darkness of the ghetto of Konohagakure, not that anyone would think of this place belonging to sure a prosperous village. It was a place of old shinobi on pension, drug dealers and users, prostitutes and the street gangs who learned their techniques from the withered shinobi who taught them while they smoked on their balconies and front steps. Their Will of Fire long since snuffed out and the horrors of battle replacing their glory days when they were chunin and jonin of the village. This was home, the trashy underbelly of Konoha.

This is where he walked and was left alone, no one cared about who he was here, what he was. There was always a somewhat kind face here, the washed-up prostitute that always stopped him once every few months to give him a haircut, the shinobi missing both legs that sharpened his blunted kunai, the drug dealer that stopped him to slip a few coins into his pocket for not ratting him out to the Konoha Police Force that always seemed to stop him every few weeks to ask about the going on of the slums. They weren’t family, they weren’t friends, it was a fixed rate of favors, promises, and dealings. He would shine the shoes and wash the clothes of the prostitute and bring her bruise balm in exchange for haircuts and patched up clothing. The withered shinobi was given dirty magazines and newspapers, he told him stories about the Academy going-on, the old veteran having long lost any comrade or family of his own. The drug dealer wasn’t ratted out to the police. It was a give-and-take system one that Naruto knew well. When he was a child it was simply making sure he lived, the seedy humans that made up the ghetto taking a little pity on the five-year-old who tottered around trying to get by.

This district wasn't his first choice, it was an orphanage owned apartment, given to him when housing him got to be too much for them. By the time the Hokage found out that Naruto was sent to live here, it was too late to try and send him back. Most apartment complexes agreed to house him at the Hokage's request, but they received so many complaints that they came back to the Hokage, hat in hands, begging forgiveness. So Naruto was shuffled, one apartment to another, until in the end, this was the only place. The last place anyone would think to house the jinchuriki, the son of the Yondaime. He grew up here, the streets were his bread and butter, he knew each alley and twist, each turn of the dusty streets and everyone that he came across. The shuttered old apartment building was run by some ex-Kunoichi who rented rooms for cheap to elderly shinobi and the orphanage kids who outgrew the shared home. Naruto's room was farthest with a small balcony that overlooked the area and showed off a spread out Konoha before his eyes every day. Peeled paint but well-maintained steps, no mold, but cold water and running electricity. It was all he had, this place and he nodded to the elderly kunoichi who was idly throwing senbon at the wall, eyes clouded with blindness, but hitting the target each time.

Heaving a sigh he walked up the stairs, careful to not disturb anyone, walking into his room, the top floor, the only room up there. It was vile really, cold water and never ever clean no matter how hard he tried, even less electricity with paint peeling and no insulation. What Naruto hardly expected was the sight of Mizuki-sensei sitting at his table, a bowl of ramen set out and a smile on his face.

"Naruto-kun, welcome home."

"Ahhh… Mizuki-sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto shuffled into the house, kicking off his shoes as he approached the shabby table filled with scuff marks, kunai and shuriken sticking out from it and cigarette burns from the previous owner. It was rare anyone visited him, sometimes the Hokage would stop by for tea, occasionally Anko would drop in but she was always busy with missions, once in a blue moon Dog one of the ANBU would stick his head in his window, nod, then leave. No one ever really visited him, no one knew where he lived, not a single classmate had ever been in this room, in this part of town. Now here was Mizuki-sensei, becoming among the few to have come to his own home.

"I came to give you a second chance Naruto-kun."

Naruto’s eyebrows came together in confusion, “Huh?”

"For the exam, the Genin Exam, a second chance. There is a special extra difficult exam for people who fail more than three times, the next exam will be your last attempt to become a Genin or get kicked out of the program and sent… well, you don’t want to know where you’ll be sent." Mizuki’s smile was grim and there was a gleam in his eye that Naruto couldn’t seem to figure out. “So you could take this special exam now, or wait and fail. Then... well that program will be your only option.”

He’d heard the stories, secret organizations within the Fire Country, whether they be Shinobi or Army programs where failures like him were sent like cannon fodder. Old Shinobi Suzuki told him one day when he was sharpening Naruto’s kunai while Naruto read him the paper on the latest campaign against a rebellious lord.

"You best be careful tyke, if you fail one too many Genin Entrance Exams you’ll be like those poor kids on the front lines. Nothing but fodder for those behind you to gain a foothold in battle." his voice was sage, and sad, as if he knew all too well the horrors of such things.

"Another… chance?" Naruto’s heart leaped, his eyes brightening at the prospect of being able to do such a wonderful thing, to not become a missing child from the streets of the slums sent to the front lines as fodder.

"Yes, another chance. Will you do it… Naruto-kun."

His face, was always so kind, so open as he would talk to Naruto, the only teacher in the Academy to do so.

"Yes! A million times yes!"

"Then here… this is what you have to do."

***-*-*-*-***

He was sprinting now, past the ruins of the Uchiha Compound, the scroll strapped to his back and his mind whirling with his newly gained jutsu— B-ranked and everything! He could hardly contain his excitement when it all changed so fast. Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei standing there, one speaking the truth and the other lies. He was in the middle of it all, standing there unsure of what to believe or to think. Was Iruka lying in an attempt to make him fail the exam? Was this part of it all? Mizuki-sensei did say it was a test.

There was fighting now, deathly fighting, definitely not what one could interpret as part of a test. It was all clear, as Naruto ran away from the battling chunin the realization of what was told resounding in his heart and head like an echo.

"YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX!" the screamed words practical seared through his mind as he sprinted towards the Hokage Tower, stumbling falling, tears seeping down his cheeks mixing with the blood from the scraps of his falls. He heard heavy breathing as Mizuki, and Iruka began to catch up, their battling continuing through the trees behind him. Naruto refusing to let go of the Scroll of Sealing, understanding now that Mizuki was a traitor to the village and that he needed to Hokage. Naruto heard a sharp whistling through the trees and he tore himself out of the course of a massive shuriken, he moved sharply to the left, leg catching on a branch but the shuriken kept coming, it’s blades spinning and he closed his eyes, arms wrapped tightly around the scroll and waited for impact.

It never came, Naruto felt warmth dripping down onto his face and his eyes found, “I-Iruka sensei...”

Naruto wondered for a moment if that fire was home.

But the fire that was in his sensei’s eyes could not match the raging one in his heart as he began to focus chakra that rested deep within him, like a huge ocean of energy that he could hardly handle, the cross-ram sign stretched out in front of him.

"KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU."

The cry went out as most than a hundred of bright orange spots appeared in the forest, and attacked the rogue ninja with all the terrifying power a single enraged emotion the shinobi child had within his tiny body. It hadn’t taken long to clean house, tossing Mizuki’s hide all over the Hokage’s forest. It all ended with Mizuki tied down, beaten and bruised with five of his clones sitting on his prone body.

Iruka called him over, to the tree where he leaned against and all seemed right with the world when the forehead protector sat there.

Naruto knew immediately, that this was home. Nine-Tails or not, nothing anyone could say or do could change that.

Even if it was a barrelling Anko Mitarashi with proverbial guns blazing. Summoning a snake, the creature slithered away with a struggling Mizuki in its mouth, while the three of them walked and in Iruka’s case stumbled to the Hokage’s office. She was both impressed and annoyed by the whole thing, and Iruka was simply tired. Naruto refused to let go still of the Scroll and neither the chunin nor the jounin felt like wrestling him at that moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not pleased, seeing the tore up little boy, the bleeding out chunin and the rogue ninja gathered in his office by the ever hyperactive and slightly insane Anko was not a pleasant sight at 2 in the morning. He took careful note of the headband that now adorned the crying boy’s forehead and Iruka’s lack of one.

"It seems as though he has a traitor in our midst, Anko, take him to Ibiki."

If Mizuki’s mouth hadn’t been muffled he would have screamed as the Snake Mistress pulled him away with a grin on her face. Naruto almost shuddered at him, almost.

One long drag later and Hiruzen tossed a pill to Iruka who gratefully swallowed it. Naruto had stopped crying and was still holding the Scroll of Sealing to his chest as if trying to desperately defend the object that had landed him in the most amount of trouble he’d ever been in. This was it, the Old Man was going to take this headband and send him to the children suicide corps for the Fire Country’s Army. He watched the elderly man stand and walk around the massive table and reach out a hand towards the cowering Uzumaki, he clenched his teeth and tensed waiting for the hit. But it never came as a gentle, elderly hand ran through his hair.

"Good job Naruto-kun. I’ll take that…" with his other he took the Scroll of Sealing, handing it off to an ANBU who silently transported away in a cloud of smoke. Hiruzen folding his hands over the cane he used to help him walk, eyes watching the child jinchuriki. "You did as you were told, even if it was the wrong thing to do. You remained loyal to your village. You fought against the enemy that you may have been defeated by to protect your teacher. You reported back here without fighting, ready to take punishment. Everything the handbook says a shinobi is told; follow orders, protect your comrades, protect your village"

He felt as if he could, but he didn’t, wouldn't, instead his eyes were still shut tight.

“However--” both Iruka and Naruto looked up at the Hokage who was leaning back on the balls of his feet, puffing on his pipe, smoke falling from his lips. “You failed your written exam Naruto, and you cannot become a Genin without a passing grade in the written exam. I cannot let you pass this year. However apply yourself, study hard and you will next year get that headband, I guarantee it.” the Hokage stood and walked around the desk, reaching forward, a hand seal formed as a puff of smoke bloomed from behind the desk

"You may now return home Iruka,  still have a matter to speak with Naruto about."

"Mizuki told him! I didn’t--"

"I know you didn’t tell Iruka, it was an S-classed secret, one you wouldn’t even slip. Now please, I need to speak with Naruto-kun alone."

"Yes, sir." there was no arguing with the Hokage, but he had faith in the elderly shinobi, bowing he left the room stiff and limping hoping a medic-nin waiting to see to his wounds outside the door. The elderly shinobi walked back towards his desk, bypassing it and staring out the window. Naruto was shocked and still in the middle of the room.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are now aware of what you are."

"Y-yes." his voice was small, he was tired, exhausted really and still reeling from the whole ordeal.

"You are to be a ninja, a tool, and protector of the Village. But you are something else as well, a jinchuriki, not only a tool but a weapon of our own. You who will one day harness the power of the Kyuubi and use it to protect Konoha." the words of the Council rang in his head, the promise of making Naruto into the perfect weapon. Danzo lurking waiting to re-seize power after the Uchiha Massacre, leaving only two alive, and the rest slaughtered. He looked at Naruto steadily, as scuffed up as he was, he had won a fight, had done what the Council wanted him to do. Protect their Konoha, as a weapon against their enemies.

"I… what?"

Hiruzen sighed, “To make you a weapon from birth. The perfect shinobi, the perfect senseless tool used to rule. I didn’t allow it, I wanted you to create bonds, make friends, learn and grown— I didn't do a very good job did I? You always were supposed to be the living sacrifice and weapon for the village.” silence. “I understand if you've grown to hate me Naruto-kun, but all I've done for you has been an attempt to give you a normal life, a meaninful one. Not one spent in the shadows... ”

"N-no… don’t hate you… I could never hate you! You're busy, and you try, that is better than them." Naruto glared out the window into the darkness of Konoha.

They both knew who ‘them’ were.

"That’s the civilians, they can’t tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll it’s sealed within. The shinobi too clouded by their hate, and their children who follow by example. You can tell anyone you want of your status Naruto, it’s your burden to bear and your secret to tell now that you are privy to it. But there is another burden if you choose to see it that way."

Naruto felt overloaded, the whole night flying over his head and his stomach roiling, “Another burden Old Man?”

"Of a kind, Uzumaki." The elderly shinobi reached into his robes, pulling out a bright blue scroll with a red swirl on the center holding it together, not unlike the swirls that adorned the chunin and jonin flak jackets. But Naruto remembered it for another place, all his shirts that were supplied by the Hokage had the symbol somewhere; the collar, the sleeves, back, and front. It was even on his doorway. "Uzumaki’s are not native to Konoha, you could just tell from your coloring alone. Your family originates from Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, when I was still in my prime they were powerful. The village resided on an island off the coast of Eastern Fire Country. Known for the Uzumaki Clan, Sealing Experts, Fuuton and Suiton Users, possessors of longevity, massive chakra pools and a kekkei genkai. Your ancestors were feared, but wiped out because of this. Your mother came here, became a kunoichi, bore you and died to protect this village. It was her will that this is given to you." It was a scroll, not quite as large as the one Naruto stole but ample. "It is your family’s jutsu, legacy, and teachings. Unseal it with your own blood, read and learn." Hiruzen had long since placed the scroll on the desk as he reached into the massive oak and pulled out a bag. "Here as well is money, payment for a C-rank, detaining a rogue ninja. Consider it your first mission. It grows late now Naruto-kun, Neko-san will escort you home."

He hardly had time to blink, the scroll was shoved into his arms and he was lifted and pulled out of the Hokage’s office as quickly he came in. No time for questions, but answers and presents and more newly formed questions in his mind. Hiruzen watched Neko carry the Last Uzumaki out towards his house and looks forward at the photo on the wall. 'If you could see your son Minato-kun, you'd be pleased, though Kushina-chan would be livid.”

***-*-*-*-***

Naruto was unused to the idea of family, unused to someone sticking their neck out for him out of love. The Hokage cared for him, but he wasn’t family. Iruka cared for him, loved him even, painstakingly trained him, treated him to ramen when he could. Anko cared for him, ruffled his hair and showed him new tricks to throwing a weapon when she found time between missions. Dog-san wasn't sneaky when he followed Naruto around the village, but he never spoke, never said a word, always watching.

In the end, Naruto was always alone, he walked home alone, trained alone, slept alone, woke up alone, and came home alone. Every day.

The only solace was the scrolls that Jiji had given him. It was the first time Naruto ever spent his time off from the Academy reading. He read through the history of his Clan even if he didn’t understand it all and had sorted out all the books, scrolls and weapons that his Mother had left him. There were pages of genealogy, scrolls that contained Uzumaki weapons, armor and clothing. He’d found badges, and faintly he wondered if the village was destroyed where his Mother had gotten all of this? Had she salvaged it, found survivors, replicated the items? He wasn’t sure but all he knew was that it was his and that he was going to do his best to learn it.

Sasuke and Itachi weren’t the only last of their Clan, and Naruto was going to bring the Uzumaki Clan back to Konoha. He was going to rebuild the legacy his Mother left him. So he hit the books, over and over again, he practiced his jutsu, he worked on his calligraphy, trained his hands in trap and seal making. A dozen times he spent smashing his hands against trees and pillars, practicing the kata’s described. A dozen times falling asleep in the training grounds. A dozen times he fell from the blowback of an incorrect seal or ninjutsu.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands, who knew at this point, but the forest behind the Hokage Mountain was a mess of a self-made training ground, it looked torn apart. Until Naruto wrote the Quicksand Seal correctly. Until Naruto could perform a kata in order. Until Naruto could fold wind itself and send it hurtling back at his opponent. Was it perfect? No, it was perfect in the way only the self-taught was, and he was proud of it.

His walk home was stumbling, tired from spending a day training far away from prying eyes and glares. He was alone as he reached his district, noting to himself how quiet it was, and he sighed. The Hokage must be waiting at his apartment for him, it was the only time the shady area settled down for a moment. The respect and fear of the Hokage palpable and though he hadn’t seen the geezer since the Mizuki Incident, he was looking forward to showing him the fruits of his training.

Entering his home he called with confidence that he had arrived and turned the corner into his living room to find the Hokage idly folding his clothes up and placing them in a suitcase. His couch was missing, as was his table, and as he shot off into his room, the bed was gone, his meager personal items including even his poster.

“Oi! What is all this then Jiji! Where is all my stuff?!” Naruto slid into the room, watching as the old man cracked his hands and the scroll containing all his clothes disappeared.

“Naruto you will be moving to a more suitable apartment, starting now, grab your shoes, we’re heading there now.” The Hokage made his way to the window, “If you can keep up that is.” The old shinobi lept from the window and Naruto quickly followed with a screech of annoyance as the Hokage led him through the district. He noted the familiar eyes of the ghetto watching him and he sighed, looking away from the area he knew so well. They race further into the village, closer to the Westside, near to the Hokage Tower, just a few streets down from the Yamanaka Flower Shop and the shopping district of Konoha. It’s a three-story apartment complex with a massive tree grown next to it the branches winding around the place as if it were a fortress. As they climb the steps to the third floor, Naruto notes that each floor seems to only have 4 available places, they reach the top floor and he follows the Hokage and the last doorway is here, the front much like his last apartment is already adorned with the Uzumaki spiral in white, a massive tree branch curves around where the outside rail is supposed to be, the actual rail buried deep in the wood. The Hokage opens the door and Naruto looks it over.

The entryway already has a mat set out for their shoes, and there is a painting of Konoha here. As they walk in the space opens into a living room with a bay window that faces the Hokage monument, Naruto see’s the edge of a tree branch just under the window. The room does not have his old couch or table. Rather it’d been replaced with new furniture, larger furniture, a large low coffee table sits on the green couch, there is a target board on the far side of the room. All his Uzumaki scrolls and books are placed on a shelf, and the unsealed weapons are on a weapon holder corner by the window. There is a kitchen, with a four-person table in the middle. As he looks around he notes that the wall that contains the target board there is a hallway, he follows it down seeing three doors, the first being the bathroom, complete with new towels and soap.

“Eh Jiji, why are there two bedrooms.”

“Because stupid, you got a roommate.” the voice startles him into action, a kunai pulled from his holster and he smashes a bespectacled redhead up against the wall, her own tanto is pressed up against his inner thigh. The pair are growling at each other, Naruto bristling and the redhaired girl refusing to back down from a fight.

“Who the fuck are you.” Naruto felt the heat rising from his stomach and knew that the Fox was responding to his emotions, feeding off his negative energy and fear.

“Children!” The Hokage breaks the pair apart, he could see the tension mounting between the pair and sighed, the pair were watching each other, Naruto still holding tight to his kunai and the girl holding her tanto. Hiruzen studied the pair, it’d only been several months since Naruto learned of his heritage but even now the boy looked older, stronger. The boy’s hair was growing wild and unruly, not unlike Minato’s would when he was a child. His pants were black with burnt orange cuffs and leather belt, his orange shirt zipped up and had very loose black short sleeves, on the back of his shirt was the Uzumaki spiral in white as well as on the shoulder His arms were decorated with light grey armor, not dissimilar to Jiraiya's, Hiruzen figured that Naruto found it among the Uzumaki scrolls and liked it enough to keep. The girl, however, was covered neck to ankle in dark mesh armor, as well as a black zip-up with bell sleeves edges in lavender, her shorts and legwarmers were black with lavender stitching. Her unruly red hair was tied back in a ponytail and her glasses were dripping down the edge of her nose. They made quite a pair and not for the first time in the last month was he grateful that Anko’s team had found and recovered this girl.

One of the last Uzumaki. He looked to Naruto who was still wary and looking for answers.

“Naruto, this is Karin, she will be living with you. Now put your weapon away and come into the living room so I can explain to both of you what is happening.” Pushing both kids into the main room they sat on opposite ends of the couches, eyeing up the other.

“Naruto why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“...Fine. I’m Naruto Uzumaki, I will be a shinobi of Konoha.” he nodded to himself and glared at the girl who suddenly went pale and jumped to her feet.

“Is this some kind of joke old man!”

“Hey who are you calling old man! He’s the Hokage!” Naruto jumped up, and Hiruzen couldn’t help but feel as if that were a bit hypocritical. “Who do you think you are!”

“I’m Karin Uzumaki! Daughter of Usagi and Shin Uzumaki!” Karin shouted back at him tears forming in her eyes, she looked between the now shellshocked Naruto and Hiruzen who was watching the scene play out under calculated eyes. “Why... why is this happening to me?”

“Karin Uzumaki, you have been led to believe that you are the last of your Clan. You would be found wrong, Naruto here is the son of a Kunoichi who came to Konoha shortly before Uzushiogakure destruction, she died giving birth to him. I believe that your parents were refugees of that war, and hid a long time. From what you’ve said of your past you may have believed that you had no more family left. This boy, Naruto, is an Uzumaki. We could run DNA tests if you’re unsure of his parentage.” Hiruzen stood from the plush chair and looked over the two kids. “Both of you are orphans, but both of you are bound by blood. Naruto has inherited histories, jutsu, scrolls, sealing and weapons from your Clan. They were collected by his mother after Uzushiogakure fall, some she brought with her to Konoha, and others salvaged from the wreckage and from memory. Karin, you have experienced great loss and horror, Konoha has offered you a home, and you expressed interest in becoming a shinobi in return. The least I could do is offer you a home here, permanently, with family. Naruto already has his own destiny to fulfill. I’ve decided to room you together, there is no reason to keep you apart.” Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment before looking them both over and reached up to ruffle their hair. The pair looked at him, hope in their eyes, fists clenched and a strange sense of peace came over the old shinobi, having felt as if he did something right for the Uzumaki's, for Minato and his family, for Kushina.

“Truly?”

“Yes.”

“Then I... would like to stay here Hokage-sama.” Karin bowed lowly, eyes filling with tears, “if that is okay with Naruto...” she cast a look at the stunned blonde whose eyes were wet. Naruto reached up to wipe roughly at his cheeks before reaching over and wrapping his arms around Hiruzen’s waist tightly hugging him. Hiruzen froze, unable to remember if Naruto has ever given him a hug... anyone a hug? Hiruzen patted his back as Naruto turned and grabbed Karin’s wrist and tugged on it.

“Family, yeah?” Naruto grabbed her other wrist.

“Yeah, family.”

Hiruzen left them there, seated on the couch, talking back and forth loudly, talking about their pasts, what food they liked, what they did for fun. The two ten-year-olds would be good for each other. As he slipped from the apartment Hiruzen felt a flitter behind him as Kakashi stood next to him.

“Ahhh Kakashi,” he turned to the lone Hatake who scratched the back of his head with a type of nervousness he hadn’t seen in the jounin since he was a young teen, “What did you need my boy.”

“I... just wanted to check on him,” Kakashi looked to the door that hid the boy from his sight, “Finding out he still has a family, it’s a boon is it not?”

“Yes, Karin was an accident to be sure, but one I am grateful for. Her powers, so similar to Kushina-chan and Mito-hime, she will be a powerful asset to the Village, and to Naruto’s growth. He has more of a reason to protect the village if he has a family.” Hiruzen walked down the steps a few ways with Kakashi following closely. “They will be good for each other.”

“I... see.”

“Just a while longer Kakashi, and you can train the boy. Just a while longer.” Hiruzen stepped onto the street, nodding at the shinobi who bowed and the children who played in the dust.

“I never said--”

“You cannot hide from me Kakashi, but just prepare to train him, and train him well. That boy has a destiny and the winds are stirring, it’s been so long since the last war and I fear that I may not be here for ones to come.” Hiruzen looked up at Kakashi, who nodded quietly and transported away, the Hokage looked up at the apartment at the top of the complex and sighed to himself. He hopes his gamble pays off.

***-*-*-*-***

For the first time, Naruto wakes up to someone else in the apartment. He eats rice and eggs on the couch with someone else next to him. He fights with someone over dishes. He laughs himself sick on the floor with someone that isn’t his reflection. Naruto walks out of the apartment with someone else. Naruto gets groceries for two. Naruto carries Karin to bed when she stays up too late studying seal arrays. Naruto comes home and Karin is there yelling at him about tracking mud into the house, about coming in through the window, about leaving kunai and shuriken hanging around.

Karin spends her days studying the seal arrays and testing weapons alongside Naruto behind the Hokage Monument. She walks with him through the Village, the pair unafraid of the uneasy looks of the villagers. Karin gets money, and for the first time, gets to go shopping for her own clothes. She decorates her own room. No-one is holding her down to bite her to heal in the middle of a mission where she is dragged along as their personal chew toy. No-one keeps her in a small room with food and water and clothes that aren’t hers. No-one forces her to lift her shirt or bare her wrist. No-one holds her down. Naruto is there instead, steady and bright, his chakra a balm on her wounded memories. Naruto helps her wrap up her arms where she can’t reach so people can’t see the bite marks, he reminds her to go to sleep, he makes them ramen and drags her outside.

The Uzumaki’s attract attention, they argue loudly and fight often, they run through the village, and walk around torn up from training. The pair walking into the Academy together just fits, as if Naruto always meant to have someone walk with him as if Karin was always there in the way she asked Ino about flowers and smiled at Hinata. Naruto is there when the bell sleeves of her shirt lifted up a little and they see the bite marks when Akamaru rips through the mesh paneling that hides her legs. Naruto is there, waiting at her side, threatening Kiba, helping her sew weights into her sleeves so they stay down. Helping her pick clothes to hide better, until as he says “You’re ready to not be ashamed of how strong you are dattebayo!”

They attend the Academy together, while Naruto excels in taijutsu she extends her skill to the classroom so they both pass exams, and he helps train her in ninjutsu, though both are hopeless at bunshins and genjutsu. Naruto teaches her Shadow Clones and they train, all the day while dreaming of making the Uzumaki name famous again, feared again, and they tease each other back and forth about what to eat, who they like, and loneliness became a far off thought when they are together.

Nightmares fade away, even if the Village still is wary and biting at their ankles for being outsiders and demons.

Family, Karin muses, is stronger than any prickled word.


End file.
